Obligatory medical device diagnostics.
- Radiographs of the affected body region, e.g.
- Skull
- Vertebral bodies of the lumbar spine
- Pelvis
- Femur (thigh bone)
- Tibia (shin bone)
Note: Paget’s disease is usually diagnosed by the characteristic x-ray alone:
- Early manifestations are osteolytic loosening (bone loss; osteolysis circumscripta cranii; a V-shaped osteolysis in the shaft of long tubular bones).
- The 2nd stage presents a mixed picture of lytic and sclerotic (“calcifying”) districts. This stage is the most common.
- The 3rd stage is predominantly characterized by sclerosis.
Optional medical device diagnostics – depending on the results of the history, physical examination and mandatory laboratory parameters – for differential diagnosis.
- Skeletal scintigraphy (nuclear medicine procedure that can depict functional changes in the skeletal system, in which regionally (locally) pathologically (pathologically) increased or decreased bone remodeling processes are present) – in the case of unclear findings in conventional X-ray imaging.
- Computed tomography (CT; sectional imaging procedure (X-ray images from different directions with computer-based evaluation)) of the affected body region – if malignant (malignant) neoplasia (neoplasm) is suspected.
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI; computer-assisted cross-sectional imaging (using magnetic fields, that is, without X-rays)) of the affected body region – if malignant neoplasia is suspected.
- Bone biopsy – if malignant neoplasia is suspected.
